Silver Lights, Turqouise Nights
by kitfoxpup
Summary: Riku feels he's been running for far too long, but from what? As he struggles to learn to open up to a whole new town and school, he finds he is strongly attracted to a young, popular student; if only that student weren't a boy. Will he be able to accept Riku's dangerous past? Yaoi RikuXMysteryBoy (SUSPENSE OOO). Strong thriller ties. Final Fantasy cross over. T for Language.
1. Chapter 1 - Packing

**A/N: **Hm. So. Hi.

All right, before anyone brings up how long it's been since the first chapter was put up for my other story, I'm sorry- I wrote it out, but because I was at work I had to cut it so no one saw it, and then without thinking… I copied something else. Just like that, a couple hours of typing was gone. Poof. Vamoose.

Still, getting back into the universe has started reawakening my inner Roxas. I know that that fandom isn't as popular as it used to be, and lord knows how many High School situational Kingdom Hearts fanfictions there are, but I sense another one coming. I can FEEL IT IN THE WIND.

Either that, or it's that watermelon jolly-rancher I'm eating right now.

Either way, things will be happening. Soon. Like, new fanfics things.

Also, **I have a youtube, peoples!** I'm known as Darkovika. Just look that up and you'll find loads of goodies.

Also, I INSIST that Sora and Leon be related. Just saying.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the games referenced in this story. Whoever made them owns them. I'm being unspecific because I'm unsure which game I'm writing for right now. Either way, I don't own either of them, haha. PS: I decided on a KH story.

**EDIT: **I just noticed that dashes aren't a symbol in here. They got wiped from the document, and now the time swaps look and sound weird. Bloody technicalities. So, in order to make up for this, I'm literally just putting a crap-ton of symbols where the breaks are, to see which count. Yup.

EDIT of EDIT: There's an "insert Horizontal line" button. Fancy.

Silver Lights, Turquoise Nights

**Chapter 1**

Yet another move. New faces, new people, new places.

"This is the last time, honey," his mother said, her voice sincere. He wanted to believe her; in fact, he struggled against his inward retaliations, the want to speak out against his single mother. He knew she was only trying to take care of him; he should be grateful he had been allowed to stay with her for so long.

Still, it got tiring, trying to make new friends again and again. It had caused him to become quiet, withdrawn, and moody, and, some even said, unfriendly.

Riku looked at his mother's face, really struggling for a second. His love for her won out.

"I understand," he said, letting out a gust of air that caused his long white hair to flutter, and his mother gave him a tight hug.

Riku Crescent was about 6'3" tall, with long silver hair that often fell over his eyes. His skin was a light, pale cream color, and his eyes shone a startlingly turquoise blue, with dark rims. Being sensitive to light, his pupils never really got very large. His mother had told him- in secret- that he was actually part albino on his father's side. Riku had never met his father, though, so he just sort of shrugged it off.

Riku liked to wear light colors, as stark as it was to his personality. In truth, his surliness wasn't really who he was; having moved so often with his mother as a child, Riku had become a bit closed to people; he'd never had the chance to let himself open up, and had therefore fallen even deeper within himself. He seemed standoffish, and he'd been told many times that he was an ass, but it was only because he knew he would never be able to truly get close with them. Not that he blamed his mother. It wasn't her fault.

"I know you'll like it there," Lucrecia said as she pulled back from her son, wiping the silver hair aside in vain. Her own brown hair was pulled back in a long ponytail, and the tired lines under her eyes seemed to disappear with the sincere smile. Riku smiled back at her, and resigned himself to another move. At least the relocation team helped out; they were as good as family to him, and twice as entertaining.

* * *

"Will you be careful?!" Riku barked, almost dropping his own box of breakables. The redhead he was directing his complaints toward just laughed as he balanced a large vase on his head.

"How do you two even HAVE so much stuff?" A voice called from the kitchen. Riku turned to see a large, burly bald man walking out carrying at least 4 boxes of utensils, plates, and other cooking-ware.

"Be careful with that," Riku said, directing this command toward the burly man named Rude. "Seriously, some of those have been handed down in our fam-"

A loud crash to his right caused Riku to turn back to the redhead, seeing the broken pieces of the vase littered around him. His sheepish expression did not abate Riku's rising annoyance.

"Dammit Reno!" He snapped, putting his box down in defeat and grabbing a broom.

"I'm sorry!" Reno said, raising his hands apologetically. "I'm sorry! I can fix it!"

"Just like you said you could fix the angel?" Riku growled, pointing behind him toward a statue of what was once an angel. It was currently haphazardly glued together, very obviously and poorly done, and many of its pieces weren't anywhere near their original places. One of its wings was even glued over its crotch, and its cherubic head was where its bottom had once been.

"That is a masterpiece," Reno objected, looking dead serious. "I improved it. Even Lucreca says so."

"That's because my mother is too easy on you clowns," Riku said exasperatedly. He quickly swept up the pieces of the once gorgeous (albeit cheap) vase, making a mental note to fix it himself. Something plonked down beside him, and he turned to see a bright-eyed and cheery, blonde-haired woman smiling at him, holding a vacuum.

"I got this," she said proudly.

"You can't vacuum up the pieces of a broken vase, Elena," Riku said tiredly. This must have been the eighth time she'd dyed her hair.

"Why not?" She demanded.

"Because it would break the vacuum," Rude called from the kitchen. He was shifting the weight of the precariously perched boxes in his arms, and Riku had to stop sweeping to quickly dart over and catch one of the smaller ones.

"I don't know why they always insist on sending you idiots to help us," Riku gasped; the box was incredibly heavy. "You break more things than you actually pack!"

"I got the vase pieces!" Elena called, with the ominous sound of a chord unraveling.

"NO VACUUM!" Riku shouted, but it was too late- the vroom started, followed almost immediately by an even more ominous THUNK sound.

A good five seconds of silence passed, the only sound in the room that of the vacuum trying in vain to suck up the large pieces of sharp debris, before it finally exploded, sending dangerous shrapnel in every direction.

Rude dropped every box in his hands, grabbed Riku, and dove behind a couch just to their left, managing to simultaneously drop the box in Riku's hands. Elena and Reno likewise dived for cover, each of them trained to react in situations of minimal survivability. Even so, they were unprepared for Riku's wrath.

"OUT!" He shouted, pushing Rude off of him (which was a feat in itself). "GET OUT! OUT!"

"But-" Elena started to say, popping up from the other side.

"OUT!" Riku shouted again, standing up and dusting himself off. "I will pack everything on my own!"

The three immediately scampered out the open front door.

Riku looked around the emaciated front room. Shards of glass had become impaled in the wooden walls in every direction, and there was a large black, sooty stain on the carpet where the pieces of the vacuum had sat moments before.

Lucrecia Crescent walked in through the front door, holding large brown grocery bags.

"Oh my," she said, not sounding all that bothered in the least. She didn't even sound surprised; just amused. "So that's why they're all sitting out there looking like cowed little children."

"They are definitely not allowed back in," Riku immediately said, grabbing the broom with a little more force than was necessary. The very top of it had been sheared off by a flying piece of pottery.

"And I had actually liked that pot," Lucrecia said with a chuckle, carefully crossing the room. She wore white pants and a blue top, brighter colors than Riku was used to seeing on her. Riku's own clothes were covered in dust and debris.

"They're like clowns," Riku said, sounding angrier than he actually was. "They're the greatest protection SHINRA can afford, but they can't pack to save their lives!"

"I had hoped nothing would blow up this time around!"

"Why on Earth can't they do anything else?"

"They are trained in weapons and explosives."

"It was a vacuum, not napalm!"

They stared at each other, both of them trying to keep a straight face, before they both started chuckling. It built up into a laugh, and suddenly Riku was leaning against the broom, fighting to stay upright, tears of mirth falling down his cheeks.

"Do you know," his mother said, in-between bouts of laughter, "that I actually look forward to moving days for this reason?"

"It certainly is a change of pace," Riku said, still chuckling. Lucrecia set the large brown bags down on the kitchen counter, set in the middle of the kitchen, which was an alcove off to the side of the room.

"They do manage to make you smile," she said, looking over at her son fondly. Riku smirked, but didn't say anything; it always made him uncomfortable that his mother noticed his withdrawn personality. He looked up in time to see a blonde head looking in through the doorway, a pout spread across her pretty features.

"We really are sorry," Elena said, sounding miserable.

"He knows you are," Lucrecia called from the kitchen, pulling out the condiments for a banquet-sized sandwich. "He's just pretending to be angry."

"So you say!" Riku snorted, but his features had entirely softened. Both Reno's and Rude's heads poked through the door as well.

"Are we allowed to come back in?" Reno whined.

"Only if you PROMISE to work slowly!" Riku admonished, continuing sweeping. "Not like we have a choice, now that the vacuum is destroyed."

"I have another one in my car!" Elena said brightly as the three bodyguards stepped through the front door.

"You have vacuums in your car?" Riku said, stopping momentarily to look at her in confusion.

"Three of them," she said proudly. "Just in case."

"You guys don't clean much, do you?" Riku said, sighing heavily. The three of them just shrugged in response, before quickly jumping back into the fray, albeit a little more slowly, Riku noted. At least they were listening, he thought with an inward sigh.

Today couldn't end fast enough.

* * *

Riku and Lucrecia sat in front of the fireplace in their now empty living room. There wasn't a thing in sight, and you couldn't even tell that, just 6 hours prior, it had been known as the Battle of the Broken Vase Showdown.

"Today was eventful," Lucrecia commented, leaning back, a shawl wrapped around her shoulders.

"Understatement," Riku immediately said. He had a few books sitting next to him; there'd be nothing else to do until they arrived at their new house, 60 miles away in an island community known as the Destiny Islands, sometime late tomorrow.

"You know they mean well," Lucrecia chuckled.

"I'm absolutely terrified of what we're coming home to tomorrow," Riku moaned, letting his head roll back. "Remember last time?"

"Oh yes," Lucrecia laughed. "TV floating in the pool, flowers planted in the fireplace, and every single painting upside down."

"I don't even know how that TV ended up in the pool," Riku grumbled. "They still haven't told me."

"We'll get through it," his mother said softly. "Especially since this is the last time." Riku glanced at her; she seemed so adamant.

"How can you be so sure?" He said quietly.

"Because they've got him," Lucrecia said, and there was so much hope in her voice. "We have to be safe."

"So why are we moving again?" Riku asked. She hesitated.

"A precaution," she finally said. "Just in case."

"Even they don't believe he's caught for good," Riku said, looking into the fire. It crackled, as if in agreement.

"Well, someone has to have hope," Lucrecia said firmly. "And if SHINRA isn't going to do it, then we are."

Riku looked at his mother for a moment, watching her stare adamantly into the fire, before finally nodding. He wasn't sure that he could agree with her on this, but she didn't have to know that. As long as she was happy; she'd had so very little cause to be happy these past few years.

He stood and said good night to his mother, carrying his books with him as he climbed the stairs to the second floor hall where his room was located. He walked in, staring at the emptiness, remembering.

Even before the move, there wasn't much in here. Riku had refused to get anything that might cause sentimentality or even any kind of connection to any of the places that he'd lived in. As a product, all he really had were the books he so loved. They were the only things he would buy from any of the places he'd lived in, because they were never actually about those places. In his books, they were always about some other places, some other people, doing fantastic things, unlike him.

Riku was tired of running. He was tired of always moving, always being the "new kid", never fitting in because he was always dressed differently. He'd long given up on trying to look "fashionable"; he'd even worn blue and yellow as a little boy, to try and make a "statement" that he didn't care how he looked. That hadn't lasted very long; he'd stood out a little too much, even for how he usually looked.

Still, he supposed it would be nice to finally be able to really call a place home, to really make friends.

He settled into bed, pulling his shirt off and leaving his pants on, sans his belt. Looking up at the ceiling, he said a silent prayer to whatever gods were listening before finally falling asleep.

If only things went the way you hoped they would.

**A/N: **Oooooo, I do SO have tingles about this story. I was giggling like mad all the while I was writing it, and my inner Roxas was cackling like an insane person. You, my readers, are going to get SOOOOO many cliff-hangers in this story.

You will not find out about why Riku is running until much later in the story- at least, that's the "plan". We all know I never stick to those, but I can try.


	2. Chapter 2 - Fresh Start

**A/N: **Damn, where the hell did this fandom GO? I was sort of browsing through some of the stories, and it's like, did you all just get tired of Kingdom Hearts? I know it's been out for a while, but the stories should never end! Come on die-hards, we have to stick together at times like these. I miss the readers, the reviews! I feel like I'm writing to Invisible People. Or just to me. Interchangeable.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kingdom Hearts, nor any of the characters in that game. I do not own any Square Enix game, and do not pretend to lay claim to them. All I own are my ideas in this story... And even those are pretty minimal. JK! ENJOY!

**Chapter 2** - Fresh Start

Riku was a mess.

He sat in the front seat of his mom's car, his hand on his forehead. Riku never fidgeted; in fact, it was difficult to say that he was nervous. Anyone who looked at him would say that he looked angry, or bored. Lucrecia, however, noticed differently. She knew her son, and when he put his hand up like that- oh, there were butterflies in that stomach of his.

"I'm surprised you didn't take the motorcycle," she said, trying to make idle conversation and distract him. Riku let out a shaky breath, the only other sign that he was nervous. His voice came out clearly.

"That would have been conspicuous," he said. "I'm trying not to attract too much attention, and a motorcycle would definitely attract all the attention."

"You never cared before," Lucrecia teased. Riku glanced at her, and she chuckled. "Don't worry Riku, sweetie, you'll be okay."

Riku shook his head and looked out the window, admiring the view that Destiny Islands had to offer.

Destiny Islands was a series of three Islands that were all connected, somewhere underneath the waves. Only a few miles apart, the main island was the largest, and housed an entire suburban city. The two islands off of it served as getaways, places that the locals could retreat to when they felt like pretending they were on vacation.

The city, aptly named Destiny City, was gorgeous. All of the cities that Riku had ever lived in had been of the same breed; smoky, dusty, filled with sin and lies, wearing its depravity on its collar. They been filled with the fetid stink of rotting sewage, and oftentimes he saw people getting mugged; he'd grown used to it all. The sun would rise and sink, and they sky was always tinged a slight brown with the smog. Midgar was among the worst of the places he'd ever stayed, which fortunately had only lasted a single year. Lucrecia had abhorred the idea of staying so close to SHINRA headquarters, though when questioned by Riku she refused to explain. Riku had shrugged it off; never look a gift horse in the mouth, he'd always heard.

So now, driving through the peaceful suburban streets of one of the small neighborhoods that dotted the island, Riku looked out to see the sky shining a brilliant blue he'd never seen before; the sun had risen, yet there were still streaks of beautiful pinks, reds, and oranges lining the horizon. Palm trees dotted the area, and the sea was an ever-present sound in the background. He rolled down the window and took a deep breath; that sea air. It filled him, a scent he'd never known before, and it eased his nerves, allowing him to sit back in his seat.

They'd arrived the day before today, a full day before the first day of school. The administration had told RIku not to worry about any of the summer assignments, as he hadn't been told of them and could therefore not do them, and Riku and Lucrecia resigned themselves to coming home to whatever hell Reno, Rude, and Elena had unleashed upon their new home.

It turns out, though, that they needn't have worried. After the Battle of the Broken Pot, SHINRA had taken it upon themselves to send it more mature professionals. When they'd arrived, it was to see Reno and Rude being bullied around by a tall, broody muscular man that Riku hadn't seen since he was a child.

"Cloud?" Lucrecia had called in delighted disbelief. The spikey-haired blonde looked up to see her, scratched his head awkwardly, and gestured around him to the near-completeness of their home and said "Um, welcome home?"

RIku's mother had squealed as if she'd seen someone famous, run over and hugged Cloud as if he were the returning son. Riku just laughed when Cloud turned a bright shade of red, quickly hugged her back, and pulled away, sheepishly rubbing his head. Reno and Rude complained that they never got greetings like that, and Lucrecia proceeded to dole out free hugs to everyone.

The house itself had been very stylish. Two stories tall (a blessing from SHINRA, and possibly an apology for taking so long to settle Riku's family) with a balcony off the second floor, Riku and his mother had excitedly explored the large house as soon as Cloud had a chance to offer. The kitchen was stainless steel and marble counters, something Lucrecia loved, and had a million and one drawers- good, because she was also OCD with her cooking supplies. Ladles did not belong with spatulas, as she always said.

The living room was complete with an HDTV- set properly on the wall- and a fireplace underneath. Lucrecia and Riku both loved fires, espeicially in the winter, and were therefore equally excited about that fireplace. The entire living room was wood-paneled walls, feeling like a cabin, and thick carpeted floors. There was a large, re-arrangeable couch in the center, with four large chairs angled around it, facing the fireplace. A bookshelf lined the entire back wall, with all of Riku's books crammed into every single open space. Even so, there were two whole bookshelves that stood empty, waiting for the books that Riku could soon place there, in a future filled with continuous book-reading. That had made Riku very happy, and he would have been perfectly content with that right there.

However, it continued to the back porch, with had a fully stocked deck, a two story garage (with their boxes neatly stacked on the second floor, full of holiday decorations and whatnot, and the car and motorcycle on the first floor), and a moderately large swimming pool filled with crystal clear water. To its right was a beautiful alcove of grass, trees, and lawn chairs, set for luxury and relaxation.

The second story consisted of four rooms- two guest rooms and one reach for Lucrecia and Riku each- and two bathrooms, a blessing in itself. Riku's room had been set up with his minimalistic taste and belongings, filled only with a single bed and a small case of all his music cd's. His laptop was sitting on a simple black desk against the wall, complete with a printer and homework supplies. Riku was pleased; when he was a child, SHINRA had tried to doll up his room multiple times, although Reno, Rude, and Elena had protested that Riku had not liked a cluttered room. It seemed that Cloud had more weight in the argument, and the room was perfect.

Lucrecia's room was brightly painted, filled with flowers and paintings, and many of her journals and scientific notes. These she regarded fondly, and although she seemed similarly pleased that she had her own small TV- with a case of all of her favorite movies beside it- Riku knew that whenever he was home, TV watching would be downstairs. She never missed an opportunity to spend time with her son, even while working.

The house was perfect. Both of them thanked the very embarassed Cloud several times, as well as the flustered and annoyed Reno and Rude. Elena, they said, had been too insulted by SHINRA's hasty dismissal of their assistance and was currently drowning her woes in the closest coffee shop, out in the main part of the city.

Now, as Riku and Lucrecia neared the school- which sat squarely on the outskirts of the suburban neighborhoods- he felt at ease. Everything was going so well; beautiful new home, beautiful surroundings- things had to go well here. This had to be the start of a brand new life, a good one.

He was feeling upbeat as they pulled in front of the school, but all of his hopes were destroyed by an uprising of nerves as they pulled up. There were hundreds, thousands of students, all of them milling about, all of them with their own thoughts and dreams and opinions- Riku was suddenly acutely aware that he was, of course, dressed differently than all of them. He'd worn a simple set of clothing- blue shirt and white baggy pants- but he could see that these were weird colors now. Everyone here was actually sort of the opposite; pants seemed to be in the agreed blue area, everywhere he looked. Shirts were every color of the rainbow, but wherever there were pants- they were blue.

"My pants are white," Riku said quietly, his voice not letting on the sudden increase of nerves. "I should go home. I should change-"

"You're ridiculous," Lucrecia scoffed. "You look fine. You'll look different no matter what you try, honey, the fashions are different everywhere- and we've been everywhere," she added dryly. "You could change a thousand times, but without a wardrobe change, there's always going to be something off."

Riku sat back in a silent huff. She was right. And as much as he LOATHED shopping, it was clearly going to have to happen.

Lucrecia parked, and a people glanced into the window, doubletaking when they realized that they had never seen the boy in the passenger's side. It was to be expected; in a "city" like this, it was just small enough that most everyone knew each other's faces, if not names, but just large enough that it was considered a city.

Lucrecia and Riku looked at each other, serious as could be, and nodded a silent good luck. Riku felt like he was stepping into a battle field or trends, popularity, and cliques- and he was a hundred steps behind.

Gods, he hated High School.

* * *

"Daisukenoj-"

"BEAT!"

"Right. Beat?"

"Here, yo."

Riku sat perfectly still, staring at the white board.

"Alex Briant?"

"Here."

Must. Not. Look. At. People. Staring.

"Riku Crescent?"

"Here," Riku said in a calm, deep voice.

He almost flinched when the murmurs broke out.

"Ah, a new student," the teacher said, looking with interest at Riku. The silver haired teen met his gaze, and the teacher seemed to accept what he saw, as he returned to his chart. Riku thanked his lucky stars; he wouldn't have to go up in front of the class and explain who he was and all that ridiculous snot.

The teacher said a few more names, and Riku's ears only pricked up when the teacher called for a "Joshua Kiryu", and the reply was "Present, Mr. Hanekoma."

"Present". Only the kids who wanted to stick out, even just a fraction, dared to change the tradition of "here" to "present". Riku shook his head slightly; what a ridiculous thing he'd just thought. The kid had said "present", not "I'm the coolest thing ever". Still, the inflection of his voice, in just that one word-

He sounded like a snot.

"Neku Sakuraba?"

Silence.

"Neku?"

Riku turned in time to see a blonde haired boy- his hair was so light it was almost white- throw a well-aimed pencil at an orange-haired boy studiously listening to music. The orange-haired boy's eyes were closed, and he had large blue headphones covering his ear. When the pencil lightly struck his shoulder, he cracked open an eye, saw Mr. Hanekoma looking at him, and waved a hand, saying "Here" in a vastly disinterested voice. A girl with short black hair sitting behind him hit him on the shoulder, and he scowled, taking off the headphones.

"Thank you, Shiki," Mr. Hanekoma said, smiling at the girl. He returned to his list, scanning it. "Well, that's everyone," he said after a moment. He looked up at Riku again, and his stomach did a light flip. "Riku Crescent, would you like to tell everyone about yourself?"

Loaded question. Dammit. Riku had counted his chickens before they hatched, and then- none of them hatched.

Cursing silently, Riku grimaced in consideration. "There's not much to say, sir," he said quietly.

"Then tell us why you moved here," the teacher said, grinning. "I'm quite curious to know."

It was as if the entire class had sat forward, leaning toward Riku's solitary seat. He sighed, seeing it was inevitable, and silently asked with a gesture if he should stand and face the class. Mr. Hanekoma noded, and Riku grimaced again. He quickly stood- fluidly, the class noticed- and strode the few steps that stood between him and the very front, before slowly turning on his heel to face the class, looking out at them from behind a few loose strands of his silver hair.

"My name is Riku," he started, with perfect dictation, "and I moved here because my mother wanted us to." Many of the students were surprised to see him meet every single one of their eyes; some were a little bedazzled by the sheer blue of them.

"That's it?" Mr. Hanekoma prompted when Riku had stopped, and Riku shrugged at him.

"There's not much else to it," Riku said, turning his turquoise blue eyes on the tall, bearded man. Mr. Hanekoma was peculiar looking; he looked better suited for a coffee shop than a teaching position, what with his black very and white collared shirt, sleeves rolled back.

"Well then," the teacher laughed, "I suppose that's a pretty good answer! Short and sweet. I like it! Take a seat, Mr. Crescent." Riku silently obliged, sliding smoothly back into his chair, ignoring the whispers around him.

"So, class," Mr. Hanekoma started, "as you all know, I am your homeroom teacher. For those of you who have yet to grasp how the system works-" here, surprisingly, he looked at the kid who'd corrected him on the name "Beat"- "that means that you will be coming to my class first every day. Here, we will discuss current events and school scheduling as far as dances, school events, and fundraisers go.

"Remember, kids," he added, "the homeroom class with the most points at the end of the year gets to spend the last week on the third Island as guests at the resort hotel, and I have to say, I am so tired of losing to that blowhard, Cid."

The kids all started talking amongst themselves in excitement, sans Riku. He had no idea what to do in this situation, and a quick glance around the class showed him that, already, most of the students were in pairs, sans Neku and Joshua. Neku-two seats back and to Riku's right- had slipped his headphones on again, closing his eyes and tuning the class out. The girl behind him- Shiki, Riku remembered- pouted at Neku's back before turning and talking to a pretty red-haired girl beside her. Joshua- two seats behind Riku- met Riku's gaze and returned it steadily, a cocky grin on his face.

Before Riku could turn away quickly, Joshua stood and slid into the empty seat behind Riku, causing the silver-haired boy's eyebrows to raise a fraction of an inch.

"So I hear you've moved around a lot," Joshua said, and Riku could instantly tell that this guy was an ass. What he couldn't tell is if he was an ass like Riku was considered, of if he was just an ass.

"Yes," Riku said slowly, his voice low, "I did move around a lot."

"No denying, very good," Joshua commented, and Riku blinked. "Was it because of some trouble with your education?"

"No," Riku said, frowning.

"Not a quick answer, means you're telling the truth," Joshua commented again, and Riku wondered what the kid was doing. This was clearly not just a conversation.

"Why do you ask?" Riku asked quickly. "Does it really matter?"

"No," Joshua said after a moment, "I guess not. It's not like I personally care- I just like knowing the people around me."

He sounded so full of shit.

"Oh for the love of CAT," Neku called, "buzz off Joshua. Stop being weird." Riku looked up in surprise; he hadn't expected something like that from the headphones kid.

"I love you too, Neku," Joshua called back, without taking his eyes off of Riku.

"Screw you," Neku replied in annoyance, slipping his headphones off and walking over. Joshua sighed when Neku reached him.

"I suppose you want this seat now?" Joshua said, finally looking up at him.

"No, I want to become your best friend," Neku said sarcastically. Joshua chuckled- no, it was more like a _giggle_- and stood from his seat, flipping his hair, smirking at Neku, and sauntering back to his seat.

If he was hiding his true nature, Riku rationalized, he was REALLY GOOD at it.

"He's an ass hat," Neku said, taking Joshua's place. "Just ignore him, he finds all the worst questions to ask you and asks them anyway."

"One of those people," Riku observed, and Neku nodded, sliding his headphones back on. "Why do you wear those?" Riku asked, gesturing to them in curiosity.

"To block out people like them," Neku said, jerking his head toward first Mr. Hanekoma, and then Joshua. "They're full of themselves."

"But don't you block everyone out in the process?" Riku asked, frowning. Neku smirked, before pulling the headphone chord free of his pocket. It wasn't hooked to anything.

Riku snorted in laughter.

"That's brilliant," he said, grinning at Neku, who grinned back and stuck the chord securely back into his pocket.

"It keeps the riff raff from talking to me," Neku said quietly. "And before you ask," he added, "I figured that if that snot-" he jerked his head toward Joshua- "has taken interest in you, you're probably no riff raff."

"I'll be sure to thank him," Riku snorted, and Neku laughed in return. The bell rang suddenly, and Neku produced his schedule, the dark haired girl named Shiki appearing at his side. She smiled shyly at Riku, who nodded his head at her in greeting.

What classes do you have?" Neku asked, proffering his schedule. Riku quickly yanked his from his pocket.

"I have..." He scanned it. "Art next, with Mrs... Does that seriously say Tentakl?" Riku frowned in incredulity.

"It sure does," Neku sighed. "Ursula. She's a bitch with a capitol B. I have that class too, as well as Shiki. Don't mind her, she's a mouthful once she starts." Shiki hit him on the shoulder again, and Neku winced. "She's also got a good arm."

Riku laughed, happy with how things were going; he had already made a tentative friendship with someone who seemed similar to him, and, with Shiki following Neku, it seemed like he might even make a second friend.

Things were definitely looking up, he thought as he stood and headed for the door.

Now if only he could draw...

**A/N:** I literally wrote this on the fly. Like, early morning, just woke up, took me an hour, still had a blast. It looks like it's going to be long, I hope you guys don't mind that; my chapters tend to be a little on the long side. Ah well.

I've got a schedule going, my invisible readers. One chapter of my non-fanfiction story, one chapter of this story, maybe one chapter of Guardian, and then I work on my finishing my video game project, Lord only knows how that'll go.

So yeah, if that schedule holds up, this should go very nicely!

Remember, Invisible Readers, _**R&R! Read and Review!**_


End file.
